This is a great idea to display the rich basketball history of Louisiana. A really nice interactive exhibit in the lobby…yes, I believe in going big or going home. This is a great opportunity and a place for kids to dream of one day being seen.

I think you’re curtains and doilies reference was solid. Expansion franchises are like new development homes. The basic structure is laid out, and you get to tweak it to your liking, then furnish it. Benson, on the other hand, bought a large house that was foreclosed in the middle of a renovation. Many walls are in place, but the seafoam green fixtures and dated granite just weren’t pretty. Thankfully, for us and him, he had the cash to spend on upgrades.

The first thing I thought when we went to the Saints Failcons game was WHY WHY WHY DIDNT THEY CHANGE THE BANNERS OUTSIDE THE ARENA ? I agree with you 100%…….THOUSANDS of potential season ticket holders flowing out and in the dome and they didnt change THE EASIEST part of this re-branding , the signage ?????? CMON MAN…….otherwise its been a PERFECT transition and hats off to the Benson family…….Love our Saints and Pelicans…..

One of the big selling points of the Practice Facility is supposed to be a greater sense of camaraderie compared to when the Alario Center served that function.

I buy that the current situation is an improvement over the old one, but there’s only so much that a structure can do for camaraderie. Typically, teams are built, at least in part, by acting as a team.

One of the burning questions for Pelicans fans is: How well can Ryan Anderson play with Anthony Davis?

Last season, Ryan Anderson played in the second most games for the team (81, behind Lopez’s 82), second most minutes for the team (2503 behind Vasquez’s 2685), and second most minutes per game (30.9 behind Vasquez’s 34.4).

Anthony Davis, on the other hand battled injuries (Anderson missed a Nets game due illness), limiting him in all these categories: 64 games, 1846 minutes, for 28.8 minutes per game (4th on the team; Eric Gordon was third with 30.1). Davis’ reduced participation and the players’ similar positions provided natural limitations to how much time Davis and Anderson were on the court together. When two players each play over half of their available minutes, they have to play on the court together some.

It was easy to see that of the amount of time the Davis and Anderson could have played together far exceeded how much time they actually played together. It’s not quite as easy to see how much they played together compared to how much they absolutely had to play together due to the volume of minutes each of them played.

Davis and Anderson played 63 games together (all of Davis’ games except the game in Brooklyn). In those games, Davis played 1809 minutes, and Anderson played 1864 minutes. In those 63 games, there were 3024 minutes available. So, there were 1160 minutes Anderson did not play. In order to determine the absolute minimum Anderson and Davis could have played together, assume Davis played each of these 1160 minutes. This leaves 649 minutes in common at a minimum.

Davis and Anderson actually logged 699 minutes together (just over 11 minutes per game), just 50 minutes together over the course of 63 games (so less than 1 minute per game) above the absolute minimum for two players logging their minutes. Said another way, of the 1160 minutes for them to play together that were discretionary, only 50 of them were used, or a little over 4%.

This low level of discretionary minutes in common likely indicates a active choice to keep the players apart. Was this merely `starter’ and `backup’ roles keeping them apart except for 10 minutes per game? Was it their noted poor defense? Was it distaste for playing two `power forwards’ (even if some disagree about that designation) together for more than about 11 minutes per game? If there was a reason, was it fueled by guard play? If so, will that change?

Many fans wanted to see this line-up and were convinced it would succeed. It did not. Given time or a different roster surrounding them, perhaps it will succeed. Perhaps not. The Pelicans have a mandate to succeed but no mandate for any particular player or pairing to succeed. Davis is the keeper, but if those two players can not play effectively together, or if it is believed that the situation is higher risk than another attainable one, then the experiment will end. Davis and Anderson will see their discretionary-common minutes stay low and may see the overall common minutes to drop, perhaps to zero if Anderson and his fantastic contract are traded away.

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4 Comments

LieutenantKumar

September 22, 2013 at 11:12 pm

You know, I am really excited to see all the experiments we have going in action. I’m looking mostly at the Anderson-Davis pairing and the Tyreke Evans mystery of a role. However, I completely understand that if the pairing doesn’t work, a solution needs to be found. Which is why I have been warming up to an Anderson-Asik deal, especially if we can get another piece out of it and/or obtain a player like Ersan Illyasova. In a perfect world, Withey comes along nicely and give us the post presence we need, but I know thinks don’t work out like that often. Either way, I have never been this excited for a season to start

You know, I am really excited to see all the experiments we have going in action. I’m looking mostly at the Anderson-Davis pairing and the Tyreke Evans mystery of a role. However, I completely understand that if the pairing doesn’t work, a solution needs to be found. Which is why I have been warming up to an Anderson-Asik deal, especially if we can get another piece out of it and/or obtain a player like Ersan Illyasova. In a perfect world, Withey comes along nicely and give us the post presence we need, but I know thinks don’t work out like that often. Either way, I have never been this excited for a season to start